1 s2.0 S0196890421008864 Main

Energy Conversion and Management 247 (2021) 114710
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Energy Conversion and Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman
Review
Review of the advances in solar-assisted air source heat pumps for the
domestic sector
Li Wei Yang a, Rong Ji Xu b, Nan Hua a, Yu Xia a, Wen Bin Zhou c, Tong Yang d,
Yerzhan Belyayev e, f, Hua Sheng Wang a, *
a
School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK
b
Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing 100044, China
c
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
d
Faculty of Science and Technology, Middlesex University, London NW4 4BT, UK
e
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Modeling, Satbayev University, 22a Satbayev Street, Almaty 050013, Kazakhstan
f
Department of Mechanics, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, 71 Al-Farabi Avenue, Almaty 050040, Kazakhstan
A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T
Keywords: Solar assisted air source heat pump shows great potential as a promising energy-saving heating technology,
Solar-assisted air source heat pump which integrates solar collector and air source heat pump. It is widely considered for supplying hot water, space
Coefficient of performance heating and/or space cooling in the domestic sector. The performance of solar assisted air source heat pumps can
System configuration
be evaluated in system level by parameters such as coefficient of performance, seasonal performance factor,
Solar collector
energy consumption, solar fraction as well as initial and operating costs, and in component level by parameters
Thermal energy storage
Defrosting such as efficiencies of solar collection and thermal energy storage. Their performances are affected by many
factors such as system configuration, components size, working fluid, working conditions and weather condi
tions. This paper presents a comprehensive review on the recent advances in solar assisted air source heat pump
for the domestic sector in terms of system configuration, solar collectors, thermal energy storage, defrosting
method and the perspective areas of further investigations. The results of this review confirm that research is still
required to improve the performance of such a combined system and reduce initial cost compared with existing
heating systems based on hydrocarbon combustion. The information presented in this paper is beneficial to the
researchers, small and medium-sized enterprises suppling renewable energy system technologies, heating en
gineers and service workers, energy policy and decision makers, environmental activists and communities.
air pollutants during heat provision from hydrocarbon combustion are

39%, with fossil fuel being the main heat source today [1]. To achieve
1. Introduction the UK’s target of the net-zero emissions of GHGs by 2050, the domestic
heating sector has to be decarbonised [3]. Many countries have a
Heat pumps (HPs) can be considered as both energy efficient and strategy by 2050 to increase the share of renewable energies. In com
renewable energy technology [1]. The use of this technology to increase bination with renewable energy, an increase in HPs in heating provision
buildings energy efficiency by utilizing low-grade thermal energy from is expected. By 2030, HP should provide 22.1% of the domestic heating
existing heating supply systems is of significant interest today. However, compared with 5% in 2019 [1]. The coefficient of performance (COP)
to significantly reduce energy consumption and to improve the perfor and seasonal performance factor (SPF) are parameters to evaluate the
mance of HPs, many studies are devoted to increasing the share of performance of HPs [4]. HPs are divided into air source heat pump
renewable energy. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), (ASHP), ground source heat pump (GSHP), water source heat pump
worldwide, thermal energy accounts for more than 50% of energy (WSHP) and soar assisted heat pumps (SAHP). Depending on the pur
consumption, with about 45% consumed in residential and commercial pose of application, climate conditions, technical and economic pa
buildings [1]. In the UK, heating took up 48% of the total energy con rameters, each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages.
sumption in 2013, and the domestic sector accounted for 57% of the Table 1 lists of review papers on solar-assisted ASHPs (SAASHPs,
entire heating demand [2]. Emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: h.s.wang@qmul.ac.uk (H.S. Wang).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2021.114710
Received 25 March 2021; Accepted 28 August 2021
Available online 16 September 2021
0196-8904/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
L.W. Yang et al. Energy Conversion and Management 247 (2021) 114710
Nomenclature Greek Letters:

ηsc efficiency of solar collector
A area, m2 ρ density of air, kg/m3
COP coefficient of performance
cp specific heat capacity, J/(kg K) Abbreviation:
Esc average amount of energy received per square meter of a ASHP air source heat pump
solar collector, W/m2 DX-SAASHP direct expansion solar-assisted air source heat pump
HC heating capacity, W GHG greenhouse gases
L average monthly value of atmosphere lucidity GSHP ground source heat pump
Qco heat pump heating capacity, W GWP global warming potential
Qhd heating demand, W HP heat pump
Qloss heat loss, W HW hot water
Qmax maximum thermal energy storage capacity, J IEA International Energy Agency
Qsc thermal energy collected by a solar collector, W IX-SAASHP indirect expansion solar-assisted air source heat pump
SF solar fraction (solar heating ability) ODP ozone depletion potential
SPF seasonal performance factor PCM phase change material
t time, s PV photovoltaic
Ta ambient air temperature, oC PV/T photovoltaic/thermal
Tcon condensing temperature, oC SAASHP solar-assisted air source heat pump
Tmax temperature of storage tank fully-charged, oC SAGSHP solar-assisted ground source heat pump
Tmin temperature of storage tank fully-discharged, oC SAHP solar-assisted heat pump
Tsc,in water/refrigerant temperature at the inlet of solar SC space cooling
collector, oC SFH single family house
V volume, m3 SH space heating
Wcom work done by compressor, W SWH solar water heater
Wfan work done by fan, W TES thermal energy storage
Wpump work done by pump, W VFD variable frequency drive
Wtot total work done by compressor, fans, pumps, W WSHP water source heat pump
vapour-compression HPs). Two approaches to solar boosting that have Many theoretical, numerical simulations and experimental studies
reported are direct expansion SAASHP (DX-SAASHP) [5–9] and indirect on SAASHP have been conducted in recent years. The utilization of
expansion SAASHP (IX-SAASHP) [10–23]. In the DX-SAASHPs, refrig SAASHP for HW and/or SH as well as SC has shown great achievements
erant is circulated directly through the solar collectors which serve as in decarbonization of heating and cooling. So far, few comprehensive
the HP evaporator. Investigations on DX-SAASHPs were devoted to reviews have focused on recent advances in SAASHPs for the use in
exergy analyses, performance evaluation of the entire system and indi domestic sector. This paper was motivated to thoroughly review the
vidual components, refrigerants, component and system modelling, research developments in SAASHPs for domestic heating. This paper
solar thermal collector modelling, optimal design and control, various aims at providing a comprehensive review on the state-of-the-art of
applications such as hot water (HW) provision, space heating (SH), SAASHPs. Fig. 1 summarizes the framework of this review paper. This
drying, desalination, vaporisation of liquid fuels. From these reviews, review is structured in such a way that the influence of three key com
further trends were identified such as the use of DX-SAASHP for space ponents: solar thermal collectors, TES (sensible and latent heats) and air
cooling (SC), developing highly efficient/low-cost/building-integrated source evaporator including defrosting methods.
collector-evaporator, establishing DX-SAASHP standardization for the
design/production and assembling, and exploring optimal control stra 2. Design of solar-assisted air source heat pumps
tegies. DX-SAASHPs have not been widely used compared with IX-
SAASHPs. In IX-SAASHPs, an intermediate heat transfer fluid is circu SAASHPs (see Table 2) include DX-SAASHP, IX-SAASHP and hybrid
lated through the solar collectors and the installation is simplified but systems. In the DX-SAASHPs, the solar collector serves as an evaporator
requiring an additional heat exchanger. An IX-SAASHP performs better whereas in the IX-SAASHPs, a heat exchanger connects the refrigerant
than either ASHP [24] or solar heating [25]. For example, application of and water loops. The DX-SAASHPs mainly include basic and dual-source
serial IX-SAASHP in Canadian domestic sector reduced GHG emission by DX-SAASHPs. Compared with basic DX-SAASHP, the dual-source DX-
19% [26]. The use of an air source evaporator in addition to a solar SAASHP has an extra air source heat exchanger [29]. The IX-SAASHPs
collector allows extracting heat from the ambient air when solar radia mainly include serial and dual-source systems. In the IX-SAASHPs, a
tion is not available, which expands the capability of the system. heat exchanger is used to transfer heat from the solar collector to
However, there is an issue of frost formation of the outdoor unit when refrigerant. In the hybrid system, an ASHP is parallel to the solar HW
the ambient air temperature is below zero, especially in humid regions. loop. Some special SAASHPs have been studied, such as two-stage DX-
The COP and SPF of the system can be improved by integrating thermal SAASHP, vapour ejector-enhanced DX-SAASHP, auto-cascade IX-
energy storage (TES) [27,28]. Reviews on IX-SAASHPs focused on types SAASHP, composite IX-SAASHP and trans-critical hybrid system.
of solar collectors including photovoltaic/thermal, energy and exergy The performance of SAASHP is evaluated by COP, SPF and solar
analyses, components modelling, environment-friendly refrigerants, fraction (SF). COP is defined by Eq. (1) [30]
system performance and efficiency parameters, hydraulics and control,
COP = Qco /Wtot (1)
mathematical modelling approaches (artificial neural networks, life
cycle assessment, TRNSYS, etc.), improvement in cycle design (cascade where Qco is the heating capacity and Wtot is the total work done by the
cycle, ejector enhanced cycle, etc.), different applications (SH, drying, compressor, fans and pumps given by Eq. (2)
desalination, etc.), and market and economic analyses.
2
Wtot = Wfan + Wcom + Wpump (2) demand of the building.

The investigations methods on various SAASHPs available in litera
SPF is the seasonal performance factor that evaluates the efficiency
ture are briefly summarised in Table 3. It is apparent that basic DX-
over the whole heating season, the ratio of the total thermal energy
SAASHP and serial IX-SAASHP draw most attention. Experiments and
delivered by the SAASHP to the total electric energy consumed by
theoretical analyses are two of the most common research methods.
compressor, pump and fan, given by Eq. (3).
Simulation methods, especially using TRNSYS software, is mainly
∫ ∫
employed to study IX-SAASHP.
SPF = Qco dt/ Wtot dt (3)
where t is time. 2.1. Direct expansion system

The SF is the solar fraction defined by Eq. (4) [31]
The DX-SAASHPs (see Figs. 2 and 3) use solar collectors as their
SF = (Qsc − − Qloss )/Qhd (4)
evaporators to achieve higher COP due to higher evaporation temper
ature. Simulation results by Chow et al. showed a year-average COP of
where Qsc is the average amount of thermal energy collected by a solar
6.46 [32]. Bare solar collectors (roll-bond evaporators) are preferably
collector, Qloss is the heat loss of the system and Qhd is the heating
used in DX-SAASHPs to reduce the solar radiation loss by glass reflection
Table 1
Previous reviews on solar-assisted vapour-compression HP systems.
System Reference Contents
DX- Kara et al., 2008 [5] • Review on DX-SAASHP

SAASHP • Mathematical model for exergy assessment
Omojaro and Breitkopf, 2013 [6] • Review on DX-SAASHP
• Shortage of studies for SC
• Key components and important characteristics
• Common-used refrigerants
• Parameters for performance evaluation
Amin and Hawlader, 2013 [7] • Review on DX-SAASHP for HW, drying and desalination in Singapore
Facao and Carvalho, 2014 [8] • Review on DX-SAASHP
• Novel method to analyse DX-SAASHP for HW
Shi et al., 2019 [9] • DX-SAASHP systems and the performance parameters
• Collectors in details
• Other components and refrigerants
• Optimal designs and control
• Review on simulation for collectors and the whole systems
• Applications in HW, SH, desalination and vaporisation of liquid fuels
• Future development trends
SAHP Ruschenburg and Herkel, 2013 • representation of SAHP: SAASHP, solar-assisted GSHP (SAGSHP), solar-assisted water source HP (SAWSHP), GSHP, ASHP,
[10,11,12] WSHP and photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) systems
• Market-available systems in terms of companies, functions, configurations, heat sources, and solar collectors
• Analyses of market factors
Ozgener and Hepbasli, 2007 [13] • Review on energy and exergy analyses of SAHPs: SAASHP and SAGSHP
Haller et al., 2012 [14] • Review on component models for SAHP: SAASHP and SAGSHP
Chu and Cruickshank, 2014 [15] • Review on SAASHP systems in Canada
• Parameters for performance evaluation
• Systems used in Canadian residential sector
Kamel et al., 2015 [16] • PV/T technologies and HP systems
• Economic analysis
• Applications of PV/T systems
Buker and Riffat, 2016 [17] • Review on SAHP for HW: SAASHP, SAGSHP and PV/T
• Key system components
• Parameters to evaluate system performance and efficiency
Wang et al., 2017 [18] • Review on SAHP for HW: SAASHP, SAGSHP and PV/T
• SAASHP system analyses in first and second laws
Poppi et al., 2015 [19] • Review on SAHP for the domestic sector: SAASHP, GSHP, photovoltaic (PV) and PV/T
• Performance parameters at thermal energy, PV, building and economic levels
• Hydraulics and control
• Economic analysis
Mohanraj et al., 2018 [20,21] • Review on SAHP: SAASHP, SAGSHP and PV/T
• Mathematical model for SAHP (energy and exergy analyses, artificial neural network modelling, transient system simulation,
life cycle assessment and control models)
• Available innovations for performance enhancement (latent heat source, collector/evaporator, heat pipe, PV/T technologies,
inverter compressor)
• Improvement in cycle design: two-stage compression cycle, cascade cycle, vapour ejector enhanced cycle, trans-critical cycle
and organic Rankine cycle
• Economic and environmental analyses
• Application of SAHP (drying, SH, and desalination) and limitations
Wang et al., 2020 [22] • Review on simulations (mainly using TRNSYS software) and experiments on SAHP (SAASHP, PV and PV/T)
• Performance parameters (at energy, economic and environmental levels)
• Economic and environmental analyses
• Comparison, limitation and future direction
Sezen et al., 2021 [23] • Introduction on system configurations of SAHP (SAASHP and PV/T)
• Analyses of the influence of ambient conditions (solar irradiance, air temperature, humidity and wind speed)
3
Fig. 1. Framework of this paper.
thermal energy storage and the daytime demand, but the cold energy
Table 2 storage efficiency (30%) and COP (2.9) are not satisfactory. In HW-only
Categories of vapour-compression SAASHP.
mode, the cycle provides 200–1000 L HW with a temperature of 50 ◦ C
DX-SAASHP IX-SAASHP Hybrid SAASHP daily. It should be noticed that this system is only studied in single-
Basic Serial Basic function modes. In multi-function mode, the interaction among com
Dual-source Dual-source ponents may result in heat losses and requires more energy input. The
Two-stage Cascade Cascade system in the multi-function mode needs to be further studied.
Vapour ejector-enhanced Composite Trans-critical
Vapour ejection can reduce pressure ratio of compressors and thus
improve system efficiency. Zhu et al. proposed a dual-nozzle vapour-
and to extract thermal energy from ambient air. ejector to assist compressor and to reduce the energy consumption [38].
Fig. 3 shows the ideal thermodynamic cycle on the P-h diagram of the The arrangement of the vapour-ejector enhanced DX-SAASHP, as well as
DX-SAASHP system. The superheating at the inlet of the compressor and its p-h diagram and vapour ejector construction are shown in Fig. 8 (a),
the subcooling at the outlet of the condenser are indicated. In the actual (b) and (c). The dual-nozzle vapour ejector connects the low-
cycle, the flow resistance results in significant pressure drop at the temperature (air source) and the high-temperature (solar source)
outlets of the evaporator and the condenser. evaporators. The simulation results of this system show that the COP and
Evaporator can be arranged in series or parallel to the solar collector heating capacity are 4.6%–34% and 7.8%–52%, respectively, higher
in DX-SAASHPs. Fig. 4 shows a serial evaporator-collector system for than those of the conventional vapour ejector-compression cycle. The
HW [29]. This system has COPs ranging from 3.5 to 2.5 as water tem ratio of pressures can be further reduced for a larger temperature dif
perature increasing from 30 ◦ C to 50 ◦ C. Fig. 5 shows a parallel dual- ference between the two evaporators.
source DX-SAASHP [34]. This system exhibits better COP than the DX- The vapour ejector enhanced DX-SAASHPs have been further
SAASHP shown in Fig. 3, especially at low solar irradiance [33,34,35]. developed in [39] and [40] (see Figs. 9-10). In [39], the superheated
The heat transfer rates in the solar collector and evaporator affect the vapour discharged by the compressor condenses (2–3) and then flows
distribution of refrigerant flows and hence determine the COP. Experi into the throttle valve (3–4) and the liquid pump (3–6), respectively. The
mental results showed the COP of a DX-SAASHP in solar-source solely low-pressure stream absorbs heat from air source (4–5). The high-
mode 30%–50% higher than that in ASHP mode [33]. Numerical pressure stream evaporates to the superheated vapour in solar collec
simulation results showed that the averaged COP of a DX-SAASHP in tor (6–7). The superheated vapour works as the primary flow of the
dual-source mode is 14.1% higher than that in solar-source-only mode in vapour ejector and expands to a two-phase flow with little liquid (7-7′ )
low solar irradiance of 100 W/m2 [34]. to entrain the vapour from the evaporator (5-5′ ). The two streams are
The DX-SAASHP of two-stage vapour-compression cycles has been mixed in the mixing chamber (8) and are then compressed in the diffuser
developed for high temperature (60–90 ◦ C) application (see Fig. 6) [36]. (8–1) and the compressor (1–2). Theoretical analysis suggests that,
Fig. 7 shows the two-stage vapour-compression cycles on T-s diagram. compared with the conventional HP, this system can lead to increases by
The refrigerant evaporates in the solar collector to saturation state (8–1) 15.3%, 38.1% and 52.8% in the COP, heating capacity and heating
and is compressed by the low-pressure compressor (1–2). The super exergy output, respectively.
heating vapour (2) is cooled in the flash tank by saturated liquid (7) up An adjustable DX-SAASHP system with a solenoid valve between the
to saturated vapour (3). In the low-pressure cycle, the refrigerant is condenser and the vapour ejector was analysed theoretically [40]. It has
throttled in the expansion valve (7–8) and feed the evaporator in the 8 a pure vapour ejector-compression mode and a pure solar-assisted
state. For the high-pressure cycle, the saturated vapour is compressed by vapour ejector-compression mode. The superheated refrigerant vapour
the high-pressure compressor (3–4) and then condensed in the condenses to saturated or subcooled states (2–3). In mode A, the liquid
condenser (4–5), and finally expands at the expansion valve (5–6). works as the primary flow of the vapour ejector directly. In mode B, the
Kuang and Wang designed a multi-functional DX-SAASHP for SH, SC liquid evaporates (3–4) in solar collector and then works as the primary
and HW provision, with a radiant floor, a fan and a water tank [37]. The flow. The two-phase fluid is separated into saturated liquid (5–6) and
experiment expresses a COP of 2.1–2.7 for SH-only mode. In SC-only saturated vapour (5–1) in the phase separator. The liquid part expands
mode, this system adopts a storage tank to balance the night cold to two-phase fluid (6–7) and then evaporates to saturated or
4
L.W. Yang et al.
Table 3
Research methods of SAASHP systems.
DX-SAASHP IX-SAASHP Hybrid SAASHP
Basic Dual-source Two- Vapour ejector Trans-critical Serial Dual-source Cascade Compo- Basic Cascade Trans-
stage enhanced site critical
Experi-ment Practice [65,70,72,73,74,76, [33,37,162,163, – – [218,232,246] [41,42,47,48, [81,222] – [211] [64,47,48,66, – [56,11]
77,127,134,135,138, 164,201,202, 49,64,66,67, 96,180,181,182,
139,140,141,142,143, 216,243] 75,80,81,96, 205,233,238]
144,145,146,147,154, 101,104,165,
193,194,195,196,197, 166,167,168,
198,199,200, 204,205,209,
230,234] 229,236,244]
Lab [35,60,61,126,135,148, [29,215] – [228] – [78,169,170, [44,94,95,186, [50] [79,183] [51] [55]
149,150,192,213,217] 171,172,204, 187,214]
206,219,220,
221]
Simu-lation CARNOT Blockset – – – – – [62,173] – – – – – –
TRNSYS [207] [243] – – – [46,54,63,82, [46,63,231, – [211] [46,63,182, – [55,57,58,
90,97,165,169, 241] 184,185,205, 212]
174,175,176, 208,233,240,
205,219,220, 249]
5
221,245,249]
SOLSIM – – – – – [224] – – – [224] – –
Artificial neural network [139,145,147,234] – – – – – – – – – – –
Analy-sis First law [5,32,60,61,65,70,71, [29,33,34,207,215, [36,210] [38,39,40,226, [232] [31,47,66,68, [44,109,214, [52,210] [211] [31,47,43,79, [51] [56,212]
73,74,76,77,126,127, 216,243] 227,228,235] 69,75,78,96, 231,239] 66,96,179,
135,136,142,143,144, 101,109,165, 180,183,208]
151,152,153,154,155, 166,168,170,
156,157,158,192,193, 176,177,178,
194,195,213,223,230, 179,203,204,
237,242,248] 209,225,229]
Second law [5,74,77,155,156,158, [29,162,163,164,202] – [39,40,227,235] – [49,66,75,179] [214,222] – – [66,179] – –
159,223]
Economic [153,160,161,217,242] [201,202,207,215] [36] [41,54,78,80, [222,231] [161,182, [57,212]

– – – – –
104,161,165, 185,179,
169,175,176, 208,247,249]
179,204,240,
249]
Fig. 2. Schematic of a DX-SAASHP (heating) (reproduced from [32]).
Fig. 5. Schematic of a parallel dual-source DX-SAASHP [34].
collector as the heat source. To balance the heat demand and supply,
TES connects either to the solar collector and the evaporator (see Fig. 11
(a)) or to the condenser and the end use (see Fig. 11(b)). The TES also
works as a buffer to reduce the noise and voltage shocks caused by the
frequent start-up and shutdown of HP. In Fig. 11(a) SH by air is achieved
by condensers placed in rooms. In Fig. 11(b) SH by water is achieved by
circulating hot water to radiators. Although the utilisation of solar
thermal energy increases the HP performance, the system COP is
apparently lower than that of the HP due to the power consumed by the
additional components. Experimental results of a serial IX-SAASHP
showed the HP COP of 3.8 and its system COP of 2.9 [41]. Experi
mental results of a similar serial IX-SAASHP showed the HP COP ranging
from 2.5 to 3.5, and the system COP is around 20% lower [42]. Fig. 12
Fig. 3. P-h diagram of the DX-SAASHP [20]. illustrates a serial IX-SAASHP with dual TES tanks [43]. Compared with
IX-SAASHPs in Fig. 11 (b), this system can reduce the frequency of HP
start-up and shutdown.
Fig. 13 shows a dual-source IX-SAASHP which utilises both solar
thermal energy and ambient air as the heat sources. Two evaporators are
separately connected to an air–water heat exchanger and solar collector
loop. A TES tank is in the solar collector loop. The HP provides HW and
SH by air. Cai et al. conducted numerical and experimental studies of a
multi-functional dual-source IX-SAASHP [44]. In HW mode, when the
solar water temperature increases from 20 ◦ C to 35 ◦ C, the electricity
consumption increases by 16.5% and the COP increases by 15.9%. The
COP increases from 2.35 to 2.57 with the solar irradiance increasing
from 0 to 800 W/m2. In SH mode, when the solar water temperature
increases from 20 ◦ C to 40 ◦ C, the COP increases by 20.2%, and the
heating capacity increases by 42.6%. While the COP decrease by 26.3%
and heating capacity decreases by 7.5% with the increase in indoor air
Fig. 4. Schematic of a DX-SAASHP for SC and HW (reproduced from [29]).
temperature from 16 ◦ C to 28 ◦ C.
Numerical simulations were performed to compare the performance
superheated states (7–8). This is the secondary flow of the vapour amongst the serial and dual-source IX-SAASHPs and hybrid SAASHP
ejector. The vapour part is then compressed (1–2). The simulation re [46]. The results show that a hybrid SAASHP using a solar collector of
sults suggest that the COP and heating capacity are 13.8% and 20.4% 14 m2 achieves an SPF of 3.65 and consumes 2317 kWh electricity, while
higher than those of the conventional vapour-ejector enhanced vapour- a serial IX-SAASHP using a solar collector of 30 m2 achieves an SPF of
compression HP. On average, this cycle outperforms the vapour- 3.53 and consumes 2401 kWh electricity. A dual-source IX-SAASHP
compression HP in COP by 25.1%. However, these concepts lack vali using a solar collector of 14 m2 achieves an SPF of 3.70 and consumes
dations from practical experiments [45]. 2289 kWh electricity. It is seen that the performance of the dual-source
IX-SAASHP and hybrid SAASHP are almost the same. Due to the system
simplicity the hybrid SAASHP is more attractive. However, some
2.2. Indirect expansion system
experimental studies draw opposite conclusions. Experimental studies in
[47,48] show a COP of 4.0 of a serial IX-SAASHP and a COP of 3.0 of a
IX-SAASHPs include serial and dual-source systems. In serial IX-
hybrid SAASHP, respectively. Experiments in [49] found that a serial IX-
SAASHPs, the thermal energy collected by the solar collector heats up
SAASHP can reach a COP of 2.95, and a dual-source IX-SAASHP can
the water in the water loop and the hot water is circulated to the
reach a COP of 2.90.
evaporator of the HP. Dual-source IX-SAASHP enables both ambient air
Fig. 14 shows a novel component and system configuration proposed
and solar energy as the heat sources. Generally, the systems of IX-
based on conventional IX-SAASHP [50]. The composite heat exchanger
SAASHPs are more complicated than DX-SAASHPs.
is used to replace the conventional water-to-water heat exchanger in
Serial IX-SAASHPs use the thermal energy collected by the solar
6
Fig. 6. DX-SAASHP with two-stage vapour-compression cycles (reproduced from [36]).
via the sub-cooler II (9–10). Then the condensed fluid goes to the low-
temperature evaporator through expansion valve III (10–11),
absorbing heat from ambient air (11–12). Fluids from the low-
temperature evaporator flow back through the sub-cooler II (12–13).
Then it (13–14) is mixed with the vapour from cascade heat exchanger
(8–14) and returned to the compressor through the sub-cooler (14–1).
Simulation results suggest that, compared with conventional ASHP, this
novel system increases COP and volumetric heating capacity by 4.2%–
9.9% and 4.4%–9.7%, respectively. These improvements greatly rely on
the heat absorption ratio and the composition of the zeotropic mixture.
Fig. 16 illustrates a composite IX-SAASHP with an HP parallel to the
solar collectors in the cold weather conditions in Canada [53,54]. The
hot water leaving the solar collectors is further heated up in the
condenser of the HP and then heat up the water in the TES tank. The HP
absorbs residual thermal energy after the heat exchange and cools the
water entering the solar collectors. The reduced collector inlet temper
ature improves the collector efficiency and thus the COP. It requires a
lower capacity HP and consumes less electricity.
Fig. 7. T-s diagram of the two-stage DX-SAASHP [36]. 2.3. Hybrid system
serial IX-SAASHPs to absorb solar thermal energy and thermal energy In hybrid SAASHPs (see Fig. 17), ASHP and solar collector water loop
from ambient air. A composite heat exchanger is designed by inserting a work independently. In Fig. 17(a) HW and SH by air is achieved by an
tube into a finned tube. Hot water from the solar loop flows inside the ASHP and a solar heating with a TES tank. In summer, the ASHP can
inner tube and refrigerant flows in annulus. This system has three provide SC. In Fig. 17(b) an ASHP and a solar collector loop provide hot
working modes i.e. solar-only, air-only and dual-source modes. Experi water to a TES tank to achieve SH by water. Compared with serial sys
mental results show that, compared with the air-only mode, in the dual- tems, the hybrid SAASHPs are more widely used [10].
source mode, the COP increases by 59% and the heating capacity in A single-stage vapour-compression HP cannot deliver heat above
creases by 62% at the ambient temperature of − 15 ◦ C. When the tem 50 ◦ C at low ambient temperatures. To increase the temperature range
perature difference between solar water and ambient air is 5 ◦ C, the COP between the outdoor air and the heating circuit, two-stage cascade HPs
and heating capacity in the dual-source mode are 49% and 51% higher are used in the cold climate regions or to ensure the demand for a higher
than those in the air-only mode. temperature lift. A solar-assisted two-stage cascade HP is proposed by
The use of two coupled compression cycles may incur high capital Yerdesh et al. [51] where solar thermal collectors and a cascade ASHP
costs and electricity consumption. To reduce energy costs, a solar- simultaneously heat up the hot water in the TES tank (see Fig. 18). It was
assisted auto-cascade HP using a single compressor with zeotropic shown that combining a cascade ASHP with solar collectors increases
mixture R32/R290 has been proposed to maintain a wide range of energy efficiency by 30% compared with a conventional two-stage
outdoor air and heating circuit temperatures (see Fig. 15) [52]. To cascade HP. The cascade HP includes two single-stage cycles that
achieve an auto-cascade cycle, a phase separator is used with the operates separately with two different refrigerants, the low temperature
cascade heat exchanger. The compressed superheated vapour (1–2) cycle (LTC) and high temperature cycle (HTC). Using R32/R290
condenses to saturated or subcooled liquid (2–3). Then the liquid flows refrigerant pair, this system can have the maximum COP of 2.4 when the
through the sub-cooler I (3–4) and expansion valve I (4–5) into the flash condensing temperature is 50 ◦ C and evaporating temperature is
tank, where the two-phase fluid absorbs heat from the solar heating loop − 10 ◦ C.
(5–6). The refrigerant is separated into the R290 dominant liquid (6–6 l) A solar thermal collector can be integrated in a hybrid trans-critical
and the R32 dominant vapour (6-6v). The R290 dominant liquid is carbon dioxide (CO2) HPs for SH, SC and HW (see Fig. 19)
passed through expansion valve II (6v-7) to the cascade heat exchanger [55,56,57,58]. In SH and HW mode, the COP and heating capacity are
and vaporised completely (7–8). The R32 dominant vapour is trans about 2.3 and 6 kW [57,58], while in SC mode the COP and heating
ferred to the cascade heat exchanger (6v-9) and thoroughly condensed capacity are 4 and 8 kW, respectively [55].
7
Fig. 9. Vapour ejector enhanced SAASHP system and the corresponding p-h
diagram [39].
3. Solar collector
Solar collector is an important component for thermal energy input

of SAASHPs. Flat plate collector is commonly selected in recent studies.
To absorb more thermal energy from ambient air, the collector/evapo
rator is designed by coating solar selective materials on the surface of an
evaporator. Collector/evaporator is mainly used in DX-SAASHPs. In IX-
SAASHP, evacuated tube solar collectors draw more attention. Fig. 20
introduces the matching relation between solar collectors and system
configurations. Table 4 lists some open literature where collector/
evaporator and evacuated tube collector have been employed in
SAASHPs. It can be noticed that systems using advanced solar collector
can achieve a COP of 3–5. Especially, those for SH can work at ambient
temperature below 0 ◦ C.
The thermal energy collected by a solar collector, Qsc, is determined
by Eq. (5) [59]
[( )/ ] ( )/
Fig. 8. Dual-nozzle vapour ejector SAASHP system [38]. Qsc = Aηsc {1 − a Tsc,in − Ta L + b[ Tsc,in − Ta L]2 } (5)
where A, Esc, and ηsc are the area, the average amount of energy received
per square meter and collector efficiency, respectively, a and b are co
efficients determined by experiments, Tsc,in is the water/refrigerant
8
Fig. 10. Adjustable vapour ejector enhanced SAASHP system [40].
temperature at the inlet of solar collector, Ta is the temperature of performance. Increasing collector area can enhance the SF of a SAASHP
ambient air, and L is the average monthly value of atmosphere lucidity. [30], almost in a linear relation [62]. Larger collector area can improve
COP since it brings more solar energy input [63]. Both system configu
3.1. Flat plate solar collector ration and collector area affect collector efficiency. With the same col
lector area of 30 m2, the collector in a serial IX-SAASHP shows higher
Flat plate collectors are commonly adopted in SAASHPs. Bare (un collector efficiency (62%–70%) than that in a hybrid SAASHP (with a ηsc
covered) flat plate collectors enable to use thermal energy from solar of 54%–60%) [47,48]. With a smaller collector area of 20 m2 in a serial
radiation and ambient air. The experiment of Sun et al. [60] suggests IX-SAASHP, the collector efficiency ranges from 33% to 47% [41].
that, at the outdoor temperature of 0–10 ◦ C, the collector efficiency of a To improve collector efficiency, collector plate can be coated with
bare solar collector ranges from 40% to 70%, where water vapour black paintings [31,43,46,47,48,64,65,66,67,68,69]. Some collectors
condensation occurs on the solar collector. The experiment study of use serpentine tube or other special tubes between the plates [35,65,70].
Scarpa and Tagliafico [61] suggests that, due to water vapour conden The simulation results of a DX-SAASHP using an uncovered and coated
sation on the solar collector, a DX-SAASHP using a bare collector ach collector with serpentine tube over a year showed daily COPs varying
ieves a COP of 5.8 at weak solar radiation. from 1.7 (in summer) to 2.5 (in autumn) with an average value higher
There is a noticeable influence of collector area on system than 2.0. [65]. The simulation results of a DX-SAASHP using a flat plate
9
Fig. 11. Serial IX-SAASHP.
Fig. 12. Serial IX-SAASHP using dual water tanks [43].
collector with spiral tube showed monthly COPs between 4.0 (in sum COP can still achieve 3.3, with the lowest COP of 2.51. Similar conclu
mer) and 6.0 (in winter) [70]. The “contradictory” COPs in summer and sions can be drawn from experiments where the average COPs vary from
winter are due to the high water temperature in summer which leads to 5.21 to 6.61 [72,73]. At a rainy night, COP can still reach 3.11 [74].
high condensation temperature and low system efficiency. In terms of A novel flat plate collector is shown in Fig. 21 [67]. With an area of
effect of weather conditions, the simulation results of a DX-SAASHP 11 m2, this novel collector achieves an average collector efficiency of
using a flat plate collector with serpentine tube showed COPs from 67.2% at low operating temperature in a serial IX-SAASHP. The system
3.83 to 4.69 in sunny days [71]. Especially, in rainy winter, the average COP is 2.19 and the COP of HP is 2.55. As a comparison, another serial
10
Fig.13. Dual-source IX-SAASHP. 1 - compressor, 4 – air source evaporator, 5 – heat exchanger, 9 - condenser, 10 – water tank, 13 – water TES tank, 14 and 15 – two
solar collectors. [44].
Fig. 14. Dual-source IX-SAASHP with a composite heat exchanger [50].
11
Fig. 16. A composite IX-SAASHP (reproduced from [15]).
average COP of a system using finned tube collector/evaporator is 2.94,

increasing by 8.1% than that of conventional ASHP [77]. The average
heating efficiency and exergy efficiency are raised by 20% and 8%,
respectively.
3.3. Evacuated tube solar collector
IX-SAASHPs and hybrid SAASHP for SH require large collector area

of flat plate collector. For a serial-hybrid SAASHP, a simulation study
reveals a reasonable collector area of 35 m2 for a covered flat plate
collector [66]. To obtain a smaller system, the evacuated tube collector
is an alternative. Simulation and experimental results of a serial IX-
SAASHP using evacuated tubes show the maximum COPs of 6.33 and
6.38, respectively [78]. For a hybrid SAASHP using evacuated tube
collectors, the COP can be around 5 at the highest daily solar irradiance
[79]. The evacuated tube collector can be integrated with latent TES to
further improve the thermal performance. For example, an experiment
of a serial IX-SAASHP using both evacuated tube collector and latent TES
shows a COP of 10.03 [80].
4. Thermal energy storage
TES is used to balance the energy demand and supply. It is essential

for SAASHPs to mitigate solar energy discontinuity since an overcast for
more than 20 min can lead to an apparent decrease in outlet temperature
of the collector [83]. Both sensible and latent heat TESs are used in
SAASHPs. The seasonal TES is suitable to regions with larger seasonal
Fig. 15. Solar-assisted auto-cascade ASHP [52]. variations of solar energy availability and heating demand. Table 5
summarizes the studies involving latent heat and seasonal TESs. The
IX-SAASHP using a conventional flat plate collector obtains a collector studies on the sensible heat TES are summarized in Tables 6 and 7. On
efficiency of 60.1% but a system COP of 3.08 [75]. average, with optimisation in storage methods, systems can perform
better with an SPF around 4–5.
3.2. Solar collector/evaporator

4.1. Sensible heat thermal energy storage
The heating reliability of DX-SAASHP is better than that of direct
Typical air, geothermal and water source HPs make use of sensible
solar heating, but still worse than that of ASHP. To further improve the
heat as heat sources. The sensible heat can also be used to store thermal
reliability of DX-SAASHP, both solar and ambient thermal energies can
energy. Water and soil are widely used as the mediums for sensible heat
be used by adding an air evaporator or using an uncovered flat plate
TES. The maximum capacity for sensible heat TES, Qmax, is determined
collector. For example, a collector area of 3.24 m2 is considered ideal for
by Eq. (6) [30]
an uncovered flat plate collector in a DX-SAASHP [76].
To earn higher year-average COP, a larger flat plate collector can be Qmax = ρVcp (Tmax − Tmin ) (6)
used but it is not economical [32]. Kaygusuz suggests that, when the
number of collectors is doubled, COP is increased by 37% while the cost where ρ, V and cp are the density, volume and specific heat capacity of
is increased by 65% [31]. Thus, to improve COP at low cost, collector/ the TES medium. Tmax is the temperature of TES tank fully-charged and
evaporator, designed by coating evaporator surface with solar selective Tmin the temperature of TES tank fully-discharged.
materials, is a good alternative to extract more thermal energy. The Geothermal TES can be integrated into a serial IX-SAHP using
12
Fig. 17. Hybrid SAASHP.
boreholes as the TES container (see Fig. 22) [84]. A numerical simula tank [86] because uniform distribution of water temperature reduces
tion of a solar-geothermal hybrid HP showed that the system can save exergy [87]. Diffusers can be used to enhance thermal stratification. This
energy by 2.08 TJ per year, equivalent to 70-ton standard coal and increases energy efficiency of the system by 15%–20% compared with
corresponding to 234-ton carbon dioxide emission [85]. An experiment that using fully-mixed water tank [88]. Low water flow rate contributes
demonstrated that the utilisation of ground TES helps to improve the to high degree of thermal stratification. Therefore, the water flow rate
COP from 2.95 to 3.36 compared with SAASHP [49]. However, since a can be optimized considering the heating capacity and COP [44]. Water
deep borehole is required for sufficient heat exchange with ground, the TES can be integrated with other components for heat recovery. An early
excavation increases the installation cost of geothermal heat exchangers. study of a DX-SAASHP nested the evaporator/collector into a solar pond
Moreover, the heat stored in summer may not equal to the heat extracted (TES) [89]. It achieved a COP higher than 3.0 in winter and the
in winter, influencing underground temperature balance [85]. maximum COP of 8.4 in summer. A numerical simulation showed that
Water TES is more popular than geothermal TES since water has recovering heat from waste-water stored can enhance the SPF of a
higher thermal capacity and the manufacturing of water tanks requires SAASHP from 4% to 20% and recovering heat from drain water can
much less capital cost. Water tank with high degree of thermal stratifi improve the SPF by 2% [90].
cation shows 5.3% energy saving over one year than fully-mixed water
13
Fig. 18. Solar-assisted cascade ASHP [51].
14
Fig. 19. Trans-critical SAASHP [55].
4.2. Latent heat thermal energy storage increases by 50% when the latent heat TES is used, while the influence of
the sensible heat TES is negligible. Another dual-tank serial IX-SAASHP
Latent thermal energy is embodied in phase change material (PCM) using ice slurry as the PCM reaches an SPF of 4.6, where solar energy
at a constant temperature and is greatly larger than sensible thermal meets 78% of the heat demand [62].
energy. A study on a serial/dual-source IX-SAASHP suggests that latent Water/ice is the most available and eco-friendly PCM. Compared
heat TES can increase the COP by 6.1% and 14% on sunny and cloudy with an electrical resistance heating system, a serial IX-SAASHP using
days [81]. Another study designs a multi-function system which uses ice slurry as the PCM saves energy consumption by 86% [54,97].
solar energy, latent TES and ground source [91]. In the latent TES mode, However, a SAASHP using sensible heat TES can also save 81% of energy
this SAHP achieves an average COP of 4.86, almost twice of that in the consumption. A model of a reversible ice storage tank, which uses three
GSHP mode. When the latent heat TES is used as a heat source, a COP of plate heat exchangers: two attached on the tank wall and one inserted in
4.67 has been achieved. ice, was proposed and validated for solar heating [98,99]. Based on the
PCMs are commonly stored in tanks and their storage efficiency is model, the SPF of a SAASHP using ice storage is predicted to be around
hardly influenced by system configurations. For example, for both serial 5.0 [82]. For the ice storage buried in borehole, energy extraction can be
IX-SAASHPs and hybrid system, the storage efficiencies of PCM-filled influenced by ground properties [100]. Under two extreme ground
tanks are equal at 63% [47,48]. Due to some characteristics of PCM, conditions, energy injection of the two heat exchangers on the wall
such as the volume change during phase change process, tank selection fluctuates by 6%, and the energy injection of the heat exchanger in ice
for latent heat TES differs from that for sensible heat TES. Using a significantly fluctuates by 20%.
rectangular tank can decrease the melting time by 50% compared with It should be noticed that increasing collector area or latent heat TES
using a cylindrical tank with the same volume and heat transfer area volume can improve system performance. Taking economic factors into
[92]. account, to achieve the same performance, increase in collector area is
A novel triple-sleeve heat exchanger has been proposed as shown in more beneficial [46,62,82].
Fig. 23 [93]. Refrigerant flows in the inner tube and PCM is filled be
tween the inner and the middle tubes. Heat transfer fluid absorbs ther
mal energy in the solar collector and flows inside the outer tube. The
effect of temperature of the heat transfer fluid on TES is higher than that
of its flow rate. Ni et al. investigated a SAASHP with this triple-sleeve
heat exchanger [94]. Compared with an ASHP, at an ambient temper
ature above 38 ◦ C, cooling COP of the SAASHP using the novel heat
exchanger is 17% higher; at an ambient temperature below − 10 ◦ C,
heating COP of this system is enhanced by 65% [95].
Commonly used PCMs include paraffin, calcium chloride (CaCl2),
sodium sulphate (Na2SO4) and ice slurry. A novel serial/dual-source IX-
SAASHP with paraffin for latent heat TES shows improvement in COP,
especially on cloudy days [119]. A serial-hybrid SAASHP using CaCl2 as
the TES medium reaches a seasonal COP of 4.5 with a storage efficiency
of 0.62 [96]. Generally, PCMs have poor thermal conductivity, which
leads to higher thermal resistance and lower heat transfer. It also in
creases the time of charging and discharging processes, and thus impacts
the overall system efficiency. However, studies involving both sensible
and latent heat TESs suggest that the latent heat TES is superior to
sensible heat TES. A dual-tank serial IX-SAASHP using Na2SO4 shows a
COP of 10.03, about 3.5 times higher than that of a system only using
sensible heat TES [80]. The collection efficiency (the ratio of thermal
energy stored in water or PCM to the collected solar thermal energy) Fig. 20. Matching relation between solar collectors and system configurations.
15
L.W. Yang et al.
Table 4
Utilisation of collector/evaporator and evacuated tube collector.
Authors Location Function Refrigerant Solar collector TES Ta (oC) HC (kW) COP Comments Related
of HP 2 work
type area (m ) type Vol.
(m3)
Kuang et al., 2003 Qingdao, China SH, HW – coated, covered 11 water 2.1 − 10–4 4.99 2.19 –
[67] 36◦ N
Huang et al.,2005 Taiwan, China HW R134a bare, collector/ 1.98 water 0.24 34.9 – 3.32 –
[35] 23◦ N evaporator sunny, 1.8
dark
Liang et al., 2011 – SH R22 evacuated tube 0 water – − 1.2–9.5 10 3.3–4 –
[79] 10 3.3–4.3
20 3.3–4.6
30 3.3–5
Caglar and Yamali, – SH R407C evacuated tube – water 0.12 – 5.87 5.56 –
2012 [78]
Deng et al., 2013 Shanghai, China HW, SH CO2 evacuated tube with 30 water 0.5 − 5–5 – 2.38 A trans-critical hybrid [55,58]
[57] 31.17◦ N compound parabolic SAASHP
concentrator
He et al., 2014 [177] – HW R134a, R600a, covered, heat pipe – water – 10–30 – 3.69–5.27 –
R22
Chaturvedi et al., – HW R134a collector/ evaporator 3 – – – 0.366–0.603 1.7–5.61 –
2014 [153]
He et al., 2015 [170] London, UK HW R134a covered, heat pipe 2.4 water 0.03, 25 2.253 4.93 –
51◦ N 0.2
Wang et al., 2015 – SC, SH, R407C evacuated tube – water 0.15 7, 12, 20 2.56–4.24 3.75–4.72 – [172]
[171] HW (SH) (SH)
Shan et al., 2016 Beijing, China SH – evacuated tube – water 0.72, − 13.3–4.5 3.9 2.5–3.0 –
16
[181] 40◦ N 0.8

Dong et al., 2017 Taiyuan, China SH R407C coated, collector/ 0.4 Na2SO4 0.8 − 15–7 0.186 2.94 –
[77] 38◦ N evaporator
Youssef et al., 2017 London, UK HW R134a evacuated tube 3.021 water 0.3 – 0.54–0.81 4.21–4.99 A serial/dual-source
[81] 51◦ N paraffin 30 kg IX-SAASHP
Buker and Riffat, – SH, HW R134a solar thermal roof 1.92 water 0.055 27 – 2.29
2017 [204]
Liu et al., 2017 – HW – evacuated tube – water – − 5 42–55 1.8–2.7 Using a composite heat
[206] 7 53–65 2.6–3.2 exchanger
Youssef et al., 2017 London, UK HW – evacuated tube 3.021 water 0.3 – 9.632 4.7
[244] 51.5 oN PCM 30 kg
Li et al., 2018 [235] – SH R134a, evacuated tube 33 water – 20 20.9 4.2 An ejector enhanced
R1234yf, DX-SAASHP

R141b
Lee et al., 2018 Seoul Korea, 37 HW R1233zd(E), air-based flexible solar 35.2 water 0.6 2.08–10.92 0.83–3.29 1.12–3.99
o
[236] N R134a collector
Kim et al., 2018 – HW R134a collector/evaporator 24 water – 21 7.21 3.4
[209]
Han et al., 2018 – SH, HW – evacuated tube 10 PCM 510 kg –23.4–20 0–45 0–8.3
[239] water 1
6
Huan et al., 2019 Xi’an, China 34 HW – evacuated tube 860 water 55 24–37 2.8x10 - 4.87 Serial IX-SAASHP
o
[205] N 3.2x106
860 – – 2.7x106 10–20 Hybrid SAASHP
Aktas et al., 2019 – HW R410A double pass collector – Paraffin – – – 3.3–3.8
[223] RT42
Stritih et al., 2019 – SH R407C evacuated tube 25 paraffin – – – 4.3–5.7
[225] RT 31
water 3
(continued on next page)
4.3. Seasonal thermal energy storage
[220,221]
Related
Solar TES includes daily and seasonal storages. The daily storage
[197]
[202]
[247]
work
stores solar thermal energy collected during daytime and releases it at

night. The seasonal TES stores the solar thermal energy collected in
summer for heating in winter and/or in winter for cooling in summer.
A DX-SAASHP using
The seasonal TES is suitable to high latitude regions where seasonal

solar energy and heating demand are dramatically mismatched [101].
microchannel
Seasonal TES allows solar energy to provide more than 50% of the
Comments
condenser
annual heating demand [102]. Compared with daily TES, seasonal TES
requires large storage volume and collector area, consequently high cost
[30].
Commonly used mediums for seasonal TES include water, gravel-
SPF 3.8–4.7
SPF 3.7–3.8
SPF 2.8–2.9
1.65–3.43
1.26–4.61
3.12–3.89
SPF 3.3–4 water, ground and aquifer. Different mediums require different start-
3.4–4.6
2.3–4.2
2.2–2.6
2.5–6.5
1.9–2.4
up time to pre-heat surrounding soil up to normal operating condi
COP
1–4
tions [102]. Tanks using water and gravel-water need to be buried

(partly) into the ground. The ground and aquifer are directly employed
as underground TES mediums. The buried water tank can be indepen
0.35–0.55
0.58–0.82
dent to ground properties due to its good insulation [102]. This addi
HC (kW)
0.6–1.1
0.5–1.4
1.3–1.8
2.6–3.6
tional insulation cost can be partly compensated by lower excavation

cost. The results of a serial IX-SAASHP using an underground hemi
–
spherical surface tank for seasonal TES suggest that a small burial depth
− 18.2–29.88
is capable of achieving desired annual COP and temperature of the

− 3.4–10.7
− 3.1–11.9
− 3–14.8
storage tank [68,69]. The aquifer and ground TESs have better economic
Ta (oC)
8–15
9–25
5–15
10.2
10.2
efficiencies than burial tanks [103]. Combining cost effective methods

7
with high thermal capacity methods may optimise the system perfor
mance. For example, a system combining hot water and ground storages
0.189
(m3)
0.04
0.15
22.7
Vol.
achieves an SF of 74% and a system COP of 4.4 [104]. It is worth noting

0.2
0.3
0.8
0.2
–
that the change in ground temperature may bring disadvantages to

environment [30].
Water has higher specific heat capacity while solid mediums allow
water
water
water
water
water
water
water
PCM
type
TES
higher temperature range for higher TES capacity [105]. In the cold
–
climate regions, since the heat loss increases with the increase in tem
perature difference between storage mediums and surroundings, low-
area (m )
2
temperature seasonal TES is suitable [106] and benefits for storage

2.09
1.11
22.5
22.5
1.26
225
225
stratification and thus storage efficiency [107]. Lower temperature of

10
16
4
the fluid entering solar collector also improves collector efficiency

[108]. PCM is a promising medium for low-temperature seasonal TES.
PCM microchannel solar
air-type PCM evacuated

flat plate collector with
air-type solar collector
The size of the latent heat TES is much smaller than that of a sensible
collector/evaporator
microchannel solar
heat TES. Numerical simulations were conducted to examine the annual

evacuated tube
evacuated tube
evacuated tube
evacuated tube
periodic performance of a dual-source IX-SAASHP using a seasonal

Solar collector
regenerator
latent heat TES [109]. This system achieves an SPF of about 4.2.
uncovered
uncovered
collector
tube
type
5. Defrosting
fan
Frosting is an issue influencing the reliable operation and efficiency

of ASHPs in winter, especially in humid regions. Frost build-up on the
Refrigerant
surface of evaporator deteriorates heat transfer and efficiency and

R134a
R134a
R134a
R410a
R134a
R134a
R290
eventually shutdown of ASHPs [110,111]. The mechanisms of frosting

–
and defrosting on the surface of evaporator are reviewed in

[112,113,114]. Song et al. [114] comprehensively reviewed the
Function
SH, HW
defrosting methods including cycle reversing [115], hot gas bypass

of HP
[116], electric heater [117], dehumidification [118] and polymer

HW
HW
HW
HW
HW
SH
SH
SH
SH
coatings [119]. The principle of the cycle reversing, hot gas bypass and
electric heater is to melt the frost layer. The periodic defrosting required
Qingdao, China
Suqian, China
Xining, China
not only consumes electricity but also causes mismatching to the heating
China, 23 oN
Guangzhou,
demand. The cycle reversing requires a well-designed control strategy to

Location
36.6 oN
balance the SH demand and effective defrosting [115]. The dehumidi

36 oN
34 oN
fication requires replacing or regenerating desiccant periodically as the

–
moisture absorption capacity drops [118]. The polymer coating enables

Cruickshank, 2021
Li et al., 2020 [222]
Ji et al., 2020 [217]
Table 4 (continued )
the reduction of the surface free energy and ice adherence force and
Vega and Cuevas,
Kutlu et al., 2020
Kong et al., 2020
Xian et al., 2020
hence delays frosting [119], where the challenge is to sustain the per
Ran et al., 2020
Liu et al., 2020

2020 [241]
Treichel and
formance of the coating surface.

TES can assist the conventional defrosting methods [114,120]. As
Authors
[195]
[201]
[203]
[207]
[208]
[219]
shown in Fig. 24, a PCM storage is parallel to the condenser [121].

During the period of reverse-cycle defrosting, no thermal energy is
17
Fig. 21. A novel flat plate collector [67].
provided for indoor SH. The stored heat assists to shorten the defrosting the corresponding components. Fig. 26 summarises the number of open
period by 38% [122]. The PCM storage is placed around the compressor literature per year for SAASHPs using different refrigerants. It can be
to use the waste heat [123]. During the reverse-cycle defrosting, ASHP seen that, generally, the number of studies on SAASHPs shows an
continues to provide SH because the stored waste heat is delivered to apparent increase in the past 10 years. Currently, refrigerants such as
both indoor and outdoor heat exchangers. The defrosting time and total R22, R134a, R32, R410A and R407C are normally used in HPs due to
energy consumption is 65% and 27.9%, respectively, lower than con their good thermodynamic and thermophysical properties [20]. Due to
ventional reverse-cycle defrosting. Over the whole test period, the COP the composition shift and temperature glide, the currently used mixed
and total heating capacity increase by 1.4% and 14.2% with the power refrigerants have technical limitations [129]. The parameters that
input increasing 12.6%. determine the environmental impacts of refrigerants are the ozone
Fig. 25 shows an ASHP using a PCM-filled tank and an additional depletion potential (ODP) and global warming potential (GWP). These
evaporator coated with desiccant in series [124]. This system enables parameters are high for the specified refrigerants. International envi
continuous heat provision in both heating and regeneration modes. In ronmental protocols [130,131,132] have imposed restrictions on the use
the heating mode, air is dehumidified as it flows through the desiccant- of refrigerants according to ODP and GWP parameters. According to the
coated evaporator (9) and then flows through the evaporator (12). Kigali Agreement [131], natural refrigerants such as hydrocarbon re
Refrigerant is condensed in a condenser embedded in water TES tank (4) frigerants and carbon dioxide (R744) were found to be long-term sus
and then releases the residual thermal energy in the PCM TES tank (6). tainable options for HPs [20]. For example, the performances of R1270
Refrigerant absorbs the latent heat released during air dehumidifying and R290 are closer to that of R22 but their flammability requires more
process in the desiccant-coated evaporator (9). This increases evapora safety considerations while retrofitting [83]. Current studies on
tion temperature of the evaporator (12) to avoid frosting. In the environment-friendly refrigerants with low GWP, such as R32 and R290,
regeneration mode, refrigerant is condensed in a condenser embedded are insufficient and need to be further investigated. R32 is a more
in water TES tank (4) and releases the residual thermal energy for environment-friendly alternative refrigerant to R410A in HPs and it is
desiccant regeneration as it flows in two evaporators (9 and 12). The most commonly used in Japan for supplying HW. However, due to
refrigerant vaporises as it flows through the PCM TES tank (6) and ab flammability (A2L) issues some countries are researching other retrofits,
sorbs the stored thermal energy. Experimental results of this ASHP such as R454B. R290 is the most popular refrigerant for HPs in Europe
shows a COP of 2.81, 7.3% and 46.3% higher than those of hot-gas not only for HW but also for SH applications. Recent increase in
bypass defrosting and electric heater [124]. Heating performance of refrigerant inventory limit (IEC 60335–2-89 [133]) enables greener re
ASHP is also superior to that of ASHP using reverse-cycle defrosting, frigerants such as R32 and R290 in these applications.
especially in the cold weather conditions [125]. The geographic location affects solar availability and thus the
For SAASHP, defrosting is only a concern for outdoor evaporators. research interests on SAASHP. Fig. 27 shows the number of in
Solar thermal energy helps to reduce frost on solar collector [126]. Kong vestigations on SAASHPs in different countries. It can be noticed that the
et al. [127] numerically and experimentally studied a DX-SAASHP under majority of studies have been located in China (48%), Turkey (10%), the
frosting conditions. The results showed that frosting on solar collector US and Canada (5%). The studies in the UK is only 3%. SAASHPs for the
can be significantly delayed. Experiments [128] show that the frosting domestic sector are mainly investigated by researchers from mid-
on a solar collector is much slower than that on an evaporator and after a latitude (20◦ − 50◦ ) countries where SH is required in winter and HW
6-hour experiment, frost is merely seen on the solar collector. At a lower is required throughout the year under the medium solar energy avail
solar irradiance of 100 W/m2 and a higher relative humidity of 70%, no ability and temperate climate conditions (-15 ◦ C − 30 ◦ C). SAASHPs for
frost is observed when the ambient temperature is higher than − 3 ◦ C. high-latitude areas need to be further investigated.
Generally, the higher solar irradiance leads to the higher COP of
6. Observations and outlook SAASHP [33,71,73,77,134,135,136,192]. For example, a numerical
simulation of DX-SAASHP for HW has tested the effects of various pa
Current studies on SAASHP focus on the match and optimisation of rameters (see Figs. 28 and 29) [73]. As solar irradiance increases from
system configuration. However, there is a lack on the optimisation of 300 to 1000 W/m2, COP increases from 4.2 to 6. In this process, solar
each component and its matching application in SAASHP. This section collector efficiency decreases from 1.5 to 0.85. It should be noticed that
summarises recent research status in terms of system configuration, an uncovered collector is used in the study which absorbs thermal en
solar collector, TES, working conditions, refrigerants and their in ergy from both solar irradiation and ambient air. At lower solar irradi
fluences on system performance. In addition to Table 4 summarizing the ance, the collector mainly absorbs thermal energy from ambient air and
details regarding the utilisation of collector/evaporator and evacuated achieves an efficiency over 1; at higher solar irradiance, the collector
tube solar collector and Table 5 summarizing the details about the mainly absorbs thermal energy from solar energy and the efficiency is
studies of SAASHPs using latent heat and seasonal TESs, Tables 6 and 7 lower than 1 because of heat loss. For a covered collector, the trend is the
give the details of the typical studies of DX-SAASHP and IX-SAASHP and same but less apparent [108].
Table 8 gives the details of some advanced SAASHP configurations. The In terms of ambient temperature, as Fig. 29 shows, high ambient
statistic summaries given in these tables provide an overall view of the temperature leads to higher COP and collector efficiency [73]. With the
studies on this topic and sufficient information for further analysis increase of ambient temperature from 5 ◦ C to 35 ◦ C, COP increases from
below. 4.5 to 5.7, and collector efficiency increases from 0.75 to 1.07 since as
Working fluid determines the selection of compressor and therefore ambient temperature increases, collector can earn more thermal energy
18
L.W. Yang et al.
Table 5
Studies of SAASHPs using latent heat and seasonal TESs.
Authors Location Function Refrigerant Solar collector TES Ta (oC) Tcon HC (kW) COP SPF Comments Related work
of HP (oC)
type area type volume
(m2) (m3)
Esen, 2000 Trabzon, SH – flat plate 30 CaCl2 1090 kg 4.5–16.4 – – – –

[101] Turkey 41◦ N
Kaygusuz, 2000 Trabzon, SH R22 coated, flat 30 CaCl2 1500 kg − 3–16 40–55 0.04 4 for serial, A serial-hybrid [31,48,64,66,96,224]
[47] Turkey 41◦ N plate 3 for hybrid SAASHP
systems
Yumrutas et al., Isparta, Turkey SH – coated, 30 water (and 300 − 9 – 10 4–8 Seasonal TES [68]
2003 [69] 37.8◦ N covered, flat soil)
plate
Reuss et al., Attenkirchen, SH, HW – flat plate 764 water 500 – – – 3.2–4.4 Seasonal TES
2006 [104] Germany 51◦ N soil 6800
water
equal
Qi et al., 2008 Beijing, China SH – flat plate 30, 40, CaCl2 228, 456 − 14.8 – 3.025 4.2 A serial/dual-
[109] 40 ◦ N 50, 60 source IX-
SAASHP with
seasonal latent
TES
Trinkl et al., Wuerzburg, HW, SH – covered, flat 30 water/ ice 12.5 5 – 0.59 for SH – 4.6 –
2009 [62] Germany 50◦ N plate water 0.3–1 and 0.23 for
34.38 water/ ice 11 HW – 4.7
water 0.5
24.83 water/ ice 15 – 4.3
water 0.5
19
Winteler et al., Wuerzburg, HW, SH – bare 10 water/ice 10 – – 1.09 – 4.25 –

2014 [173] Germany 50◦ N 13 1.74 – 4.47
20 2.26 – 4.12
30 20 3.59 – 3.73
Strasbourg, 10 10 0.6 – 3.73
France 48◦ N 10 1.11 – 4.23
20 2.31 – 4.02
Cabonell et a. Strasbourg, SH, HW – bare and 10–30 waste water 0.13 – – 0.005 /m2 – 2–7 –
2014 [90] France 48◦ N covered, water/ice 10–30
coated 20–40 waste water 0.13 0.0114 /m2 – 2–4.5
water/ice 20–50
Carbonell et al., Strasbourg, SH, HW – covered 15 ice 25 – – 0.973 – 5.01 – [98],[99,100]
2014 [82] France 48◦ N (including 5 20 20 5.53

–
m2 uncovered 30 20 – 5.90
collector) 40 1.147 – 4.78
45 30 – 5.1
Li et al., 2014 Beijing, China SH, HW – flat plate 150 water 105 − 6.5 – – 6.2 Seasonal TES
[175] 40 ◦ N
Qv et al, 2015 Shanghai, SC R22 – – RT5HC 10.5 kg 30–43 – 7.242 2.3–3 – Using a novel [93,94,187]
[95] China 31.17◦ N SH − 17 3.58 2.8 – triple-sleeve
energy storage
exchanger
Tamasauskas Montreal, SC, SH, R507a covered, flat 11.9, 4% (by mass) 5 – – 0.935 – 2.53 – [174]
et al., 2015 Canada 45◦ N HW plate 26.8 propylene
[97] Toronto, glycol/ water – – 0.863 – 2.55
Canada 43.5◦ N
Vancouver, – – 0.767 – 2.43
Canada 49◦ N
L.W. Yang et al.
Authors Location Function Refrigerant Solar collector TES Ta (oC) Tcon HC (kW) COP SPF Comments Related work
of HP (oC)
type area type volume
(m2) (m3)
Lerch et al., Graz, Austria SH, HW – – – water 0.3 − 12 – 5.36 – 2.55 ASHP [191]
2015 [46] 47◦ N covered, 14 water 1 – 3.65 Hybrid SAASHP
coated, flat
plate
bare, coated 30 water 1 – 3.53 Serial IX-
bare, coated 30 water 1 – 3.56 SAASHP systems
water/ice 0.6
covered, 14 water 1 – 3.68 A hybrid
coated SAASHP using
air preheated by
solar as heat
source
covered, 14 water 1 – 3.7 A dual-source
coated IX-SAASHP
Qu et al., 2015 Beijing, China SH – vacuum tube 16.2 water 0.85 – – – 10.03 –
20
[80] 40◦ N Na2SO4 0.8

Youssef et al., London, UK HW R134a evacuated tube 3.021 water 0.3 – – 0.54–0.81 4.21–4.99 A serial/dual-
2017 [81] 51◦ N paraffin 30 kg source IX-
SAASHP
Youssef et al., London, UK HW – evacuated tube 3.021 water 0.3 – – 9.632 4.7
2017 [244] 51.5 oN
PCM 30 kg
Han et al., 2018 – SH, HW – evacuated tube 10 PCM 510 kg –23.4 – – 0–45 0–8.3
[239] water 1 20
Aktas et al., – HW R410A double pass – paraffin RT42 – – 60 – 3.3–3.8
2019 [223] collector
Stritih et al., – SH R407C evacuated tube 25 paraffin RT – – – – 4.3–5.7
2019, [225] 31

water 3
Kutlu et al., – HW R134a evacuated tube 4 PCM 0.15 9–25 – – 3.4–4.6
2020 [203]
Lu et al., 2020 – SH – – 40 water 40 − 5–37 – – 3.95 – Seasonal TES
[249] 2 3.5 – Normal TES
L.W. Yang et al.
Table 6
Research on DX-SAASHP using flat plate collectors and water tank.
Authors Location Function of Refrigerant Solar collector Volume of Ta (oC) Tcon (oC) HC(kW) COP Related work
HP TES (m3)
type area
(m2)
Chaturvedi and Shen, – HW R12 bare 3.39 – − 4–22 40–50 – 2–3

1984 [33]
Chaturvedi et al., 1998 Virginia, US HW R12 bare 3.48 – 10–27 40 1–1.5 2.5–4.0 [152,159]
[134] 37.8◦ N
Axaopoulos et al., 1998 Athens, Greece HW R12 bare 2 0.158 5–40 – 0.14/m2 3.42
[140] 38◦ N
Ito et al., 1999 [76] Kanagawa, HW R12 bare 3.24 – 8 – – 5.3
Japan 36◦ N
Huang and Chyng, 1999 – HW R134a bare 1.57 0.12 31.3 45.6 – 3.83
[148]
Huang and Chyng, 2001 Taiwan, China HW R134a bare 1.44 0.105 27–37 45–68 0.678–0.926 2.5–3.7 [141]
[137] 23◦ N
Hawlader et al., 2001 – HW R134a bare 3 0.25 26–36 – – 4–9
[192]
Torres-Reyes and Mexico 23 N◦
SH R22 – 4.5 – 20–32 – 2.8–5.37 2.56–3.46 [163,164]
Cervantes, 2001
[162]
Chyng et al., 2003 [65] Taiwan, China HW R134a bare, coated 1.86 0.105 – – – 1.7–2.5
23◦ N
Kuang et al., 2003 [70] Shanghai, China HW R22 bare 2 0.15 3–12 – – 4–6
31.17◦ N
Ito et al., 2005 [146] – – R22 – 1.91 – – – – 4.5–6.5
Chata et al., 2005 [151] – – R12, R22, R134a, bare 15.6 – 5 60 7 3.8
21
R404A, R407C, R410A covered 17.2

Kuang and Wang, 2006 Shanghai, China SC, SH, HW R22 bare 10.5 0.2, 1 7.9–12.1 – 5.8–7.6 2.1–2.7 (SH)
[37] 31.17◦ N
Xu et al., 2006 [71] Nanjing, China HW R22 bare 2.2 0.15 5 – – 2.51–4.69
32◦ N
Anderson and Morrison, Sydney, HW R22 bare 4 0.27 25 – – 5–7
2007 [138] Australia 34◦ S 20 3–5
Huang and Lee, 2007 – HW R134a coated – 0.115 – – – 2.12–2.72
[142] 0.24 2.24–3.57
0.13 1.85–2.53
none 0.2 2.48–2.78
Kara et al., 2008 [5] Izmir, Turkey SH R22 bare 4 – 2 55 1.75 –
38◦ N

Mohanraj et al., 2008 Calicut, India SH R22 covered, 2 – 29–33.3 60 – 1.98–2.57 [145,147]
[139] 11◦ N coated
Chow et al. 2010 [32] Hong Kong, HW R134a bare 12 2.5 30–32.8 58.1–63.5 4.82–6.3 6.57–10.7
China 22◦ N 13–15.8 51.65–55.85 3.52–5.33 4.31–9.14
Kong et al. 2011 [73] Shanghai, China HW or SH R22 bare 4.2 0.15 20.6–28.9 – 0.208–0.27 5.21–6.61 [72,74,87]
31.17◦ N
Fernández-Seara et al., – HW R134a bare – 0.3 7–22 21.2–57.9 – 3.23
2012 [150]
Moreno-Rodríguez Madrid, Spain HW R134a – 5.6 0.3 11–19 57 0.275–0.3125 1.7–2.9
et al., 2012 [143] 40◦ N
Moreno-Rodríguez Madrid, Spain SH R134a – 5.6 – 0–20 32–40 2.375–2.917 1.9–2.7
et al., 2013 [144] 40◦ N
Molinaroli et al., 2014 – SH R407C bare 40.32 – − 5, 0, 5, 10, 50 7.5 2.2–4.3
[136] 29.12 15
22.40
L.W. Yang et al.
Authors Location Function of Refrigerant Solar collector Volume of Ta (oC) Tcon (oC) HC(kW) COP Related work
HP TES (m3)
type area
(m2)
16.80
Sun et al. 2014 [149] Shanghai, China HW R134a coated 1.92 0.15 26 – – 4.5–8.5 [60]
31.17◦ N
Scarpa and Tagliafico, – HW R134a, R600a bare 1 0.025 5.3, 16.5, 45 0.216, 0.295, 0.392 5.8 [155,156,158]
2016 [61] 33.2
Deng and Yu, 2016, – HW R134a – 2 0.15 – 55.1–57.6 – 4.46–4.74
[34]
Paradeshi et al., 2016 Calicut, India SH R22 – 2 – – – 2.0–3.6 1.8–2.8
[135] 11.15◦ N
Kong et al., 2017 [157] – HW R410A bare 4.2 0.15 25.7 – 3.14–4.27 3.62–8.6 [154]
Mohamed et al., 2017 – SH, HW R407C bare 4.22 0.2 6.5–8.5 86 3.3–4.2 2.7–3.9
[126]
22
Paradeshi et al., 2018 Calicut, India SH R22, R433A covered 2 – – – 1.9–3.5 –

[234] 11.15 oN
Cai et al., 2019 [29] – HW – bare 4.2 0.15 5–15 31–50 1.5–2.5 2.5–3.5
Huang et al., 2019 – SH – bare, coated 4 – − 5–5 – 0.75–1.1 1.5–2
[213]
Duarte et al., 2019 Pampulha, Brazil HW R134a, R290, R600a, coated 1.65 0.2 25–33 – – 2.25–2.91
[230] R744, R1234yf
Rabelo et al., 2019 – HW R134a, R290 uncovered 1.65 0.2 25 60, 65, 70 1.37 2.5
[242]
Cao et al., 2020 [237] – HW R134a covered 4.2 0.15 25.7 – – 4–6
Cai et al., 2020 [215] – SH – bare, coated 4 – 2–15 – 2.4–2.7 parallel; 4.5–4.58
2.35–2.6 serial parallel;4.33–4.5 serial
Liu et al., 2020 [243] Qinghai, China SH R22 6 1.8 − 3.1 45 2–4

– –
36 oN
Zhang et al., 2020 Hefei, China 32 SH, SC – bare, coated – 0.3 5.9–14 – – 2.87–3.8
o
[216] N
Table 7
Research on IX-SAASHP and hybrid SAASHP using flat plate collector and water tank.
Authors Location Function Refrigerant Solar collector Volume of Ta (oC) HC (kW) COP SPF Related
of HP TES (m3) work
type area
(m2)
Freeman et al., Madison, US SH, HW – – 10, 20, 0.075 per – 1.95 (SH), 2 (hybrid) 2.5 –
1979 [63] 43◦ N 30, 40, m2 solar 0.68 (HW) (dual-source)
Albuquerque, 50, 60 collector 0.94 (SH), 2.8 (serial)
US 35◦ N 0.68 (HW)
Charleston, US 0.485
38◦ N (SH), 0.68
(HW)
Yumrutas and Gaziantep, SH R22 covered 7.4 0.65 7.8–16.1 – 2.5–3.5 –
Kaska, 2004 Turkey 37.18◦ N
[42]
Dikici and Elazig, Turkey SH R22 – 11.1 0.18 3.9 3.844 3.08 – [49]
Akbulut, 38.41◦ N
2008 [75]
Li and Yang, – HW R22 – 6 0.4 15–30 11 4 (DX- –
2009 [161] SAASHP), 4
(serial),3
(hybrid)
Chaichana Chiang Mai, HW R22:R124: bare 4, 8, 0.3, 0.6, 13.7–36.2 – 4.1–4.6 – [168]
et al., 2010 Thailand R152a (20%: 12, 16, 0.9, 1.2
[166] 18.8◦ N 57%: 23%) 20
Li and Yang, Hong Kong, HW R22 covered 390 32 15 – 3.5 –
2010 [43] China 22◦ N 25 3.86
Bakirci and Erzurum, SH R134a coated, 1.64 2 − 10.86 3.801 2.86 –
Yuksel, Turkey 41◦ N covered
2011 [41]
Sterling and Ottawa, Canada HW – – 4 0.5 – 0.634 2.5–5 – [53]
Collins, 45◦ N
2012 [54]
Tagliafico – HW – bare 1.78 – 0–15 150 – –
et al., 2012
[178]
Chow et al., Hong Kong, SH, HW R22 – 1400 – 10–23 – 4.48–4.56 –
2012 [165] China 22◦ N
Panaras et al., Athens, Greece HW – coated 2.58 0.28 18.5 0.643 2.12 – [180]
2014 [183] 23.5◦ N
Banister and – HW – – 2.5, 5, 0.3, 0.45 – – 2.3–6.3 –
Collins, 7.5, 10
2015 [169]
Fraga et al., Geneva, SH, HW – bare 116 6 + 0.3*8 − 2.4–20.5 2.13 (SH), – 2.9 [229]
2015 [167] Switzerland 5.28 (HW)
46◦ N
Ji et al., 2015 Lab based HW, SH, – – 3.2 0.2 7 1.2–2.4 1.75–3 (HW) –
[186] SC (HW) 2.35–2.75
1.4–2.2 (SH)
(SH)
Cai et al., 2016 Lab based SH, SC, – – 3.2 0.3 7 1.9–2.4 2–3.25 (HW) – [214]
[44] HW (HW) 2.25–2.5 (SH)
1.3–1.5
(SH)
Poppi et al., Zurich, SH, HW R410A – 9.28 0.763 − 10 0.347 – 3.16 [184]
2016 [185] Switzerland, (HW),
47◦ N 0.944 (SH)
0.347 – 2.43
(HW),
1.966 (SH)
Carcassonne, − 5 0.307 – 3.85
France 43◦ N (HW),
0.419 (SH)
0.307 – 2.93
(HW),
1.047 (SH)
Liu et al., 2016 Zhengzhou, HW, SH – – – – − 15, − 10, 1.2–2.9 2–3.1 –
[50] China 34◦ N − 7, − 5, 2, 7
Li and Kao, Taipei, China HW R410A – 3.84 0.46 – – – 3.92
2017 [182] 25◦ N 0.92 – 4.36
Kaohsiung, 0.46 – 4.31
China 22.5◦ N 0.92 – 4.83
Bellos and – SH – – 5–80 1 − 1.4–14 5–15 4 –
Tzivanidis,
2017 [176]
Li and Kao, – HW – – 5 4–30 – – –
2018 [240]
23
Authors Location Function Refrigerant Solar collector Volume of Ta (oC) HC (kW) COP SPF Related
of HP TES (m3) work
type area
(m2)
0.4 + 0.2,
0.5 + 0.25,
0.6 + 0.3
Ran et al., Lhasa, China SH, HW – – 300 10 – 120 – 6.92
2020 [231]
Chengdu, China 90 – 3.61
Beijing, China 180 – 3.27
Shenyang China 270 – 2.45
Liu et al., 2020 Chongqing, HW R410a – 5.5 0.25 5–40 – 2–5.2 –
[238] China 29 oN
Wang et al., Changsha, HW R134a covered 150 10 20–30 – 1.5–3.5 –
2020 [233] China 28.5 oN
Long et al., – HW – – 12 0.3 26–32 3–11 1.5–5.5 –
2021 [211]
from air and thus increase efficiency.

The required output temperature has a negative linear influence on
COP. As Fig. 30 shows, a study of a DX-SAASHP for HW concluded that
the higher the output water temperature was, the lower system COP
would be [35,65,70,137]. As the output water temperature increases
from 25 ◦ C to 60 ◦ C, the COP drops from 3.7 to 2.7 linearly. An exper
iment of a DX-SAASHP for HW shows that, with a rise of temperature
difference between output water and ambient environment from 5 ◦ C to
40 ◦ C, COP drops from 5 to 2 (see Fig. 31) [138]. This is, as output water
temperature increases, compressor discharge pressure increases, and
therefore energy consumption increases [44]. In turn, as inlet source
temperature decreases, compressor suction pressure decreases. The in
crease in pressure ratio brings lower COP.
Fig. 32 summarises the effect of ambient temperature on COP of the
SAASHPs for different end use in published papers. The advanced sys
tems refer to the SAASHPs involving innovations in the aspects of solar
collector, TES and system configuration. In this figure, the COP values
are taken the average values and the ambient temperatures are taken the
lowest values of the working conditions. The ambient temperature
ranges from − 15 ◦ C to 30 ◦ C and COP ranges from 2 to 8.5. Majority of
the COPs obtained ranges from 2 to 6. Especially, an IX-SAASHP for SH
using seasonal latent heat TES earned a COP of ca. 4.2 at − 15 ◦ C [109].
Similarly, another IX-SAASHP with seasonal TES for SH achieved higher
COP of ca. 8.5 with a collector area of 40 m2 and a storage volume of
1960 m3 [68]. Interestingly, the COP values of two DX-SAASHPs shown
Fig. 22. Solar-geothermal hybrid source HP (reproduced from [84]). in [32] and [139] vary significantly. This concerns many reasons. The
DX-SAASHP in [32] uses R134a as the working fluid and uses an
Fig. 23. Triple-sleeve heat exchanger [93].
24
Fig. 24. Reverse-cycle defrosting ASHP system with energy storage [121,122].
Fig. 25. ASHP with energy storage and dehumidification [124,125]. 1 - compressor, 4 - water TES tank, 6 - PCM TES tank, 9 - desiccant-coated evaporator, 12
– evaporator.
uncovered collector of 12 m2; the DX-SAASHP in [139] uses R22 as the The influences are displayed in Fig. 34, where the solid line represents
working fluid and uses a covered collector of 2 m2. Overall, advanced IX- the SPF and the dashed line represents the yearly electricity consump
SAASHP is ideal for SH as well as HW, and DX-SAASHP is more suitable tion, that larger collector area and storage volume lead to a higher SPF
to HW. For multi-functional SAASHP, advanced IX-SAASHP is the best and lower electricity consumption [76,96,135,192]. According to Ito
choice. et al.’s [76] and Carbonell et al.’s [90] simulations, uncovered collectors
Fig. 33 summarises the number of open literature having different are superior to covered collectors with a collector area lower than 15 m2.
COP where COP values take the average of values given in the studies. It For larger collector area, covered collector with proper storage volume
can be observed that the COP values of most of these SAASHPs are can help to achieve an SPF over 6. Small-scale SAASHPs for the domestic
located in the range from 2.0 to 6.0. The dual-source IX-SAASHP ach sector require high-efficient solar collectors to reduce collector area at
ieves COP lower than 3.5. The hybrid SAASHP, serial IX-SAASHP, the same SF and working conditions. This may be achieved by auxiliary
advanced DX-SAASHP and dual-source DX-SAASHP can achieve COP components, such as compound parabolic concentrator [55,57,58,108].
less than 6. Both the DX-SAASHP and advanced IX-SAASHP can achieve Xu et al.’s [108] simulation revealed that a collector using compound
COP higher than 6, promisingly up to 10.5. Considering economic parabolic concentrator and capillary tube absorber can achieve higher
aspect, DX-SAASHP and hybrid SAASHP shares similar payback period collecting temperature and higher collector efficiency than that of a flat
for around 4.5 years, while the payback period of serial IX-SAASHP is plate collector at the same size. According to Ito et al. [76], collector
around 7 years [161]. plate thickness and tube pitch can affect system SPF according to plate
It can be concluded from the above that solar collector and thermal material and ambient temperature. Larger plate thickness and lower
energy storage have significant influence on the system performance. tube pitch result in higher SPF. Simulation of an uncovered collector
25
L.W. Yang et al.
Table 8
Advanced SAASHP systems.
Authors Function of Refrigerant Solar collector Volume of Ta (oC) Tcon HC COP Comments
HP TES (m3) (oC) (kW)
type area
(m2)
Chaturvedi et al., 2009 [36] – R134a covered 10.58 – 5 60 – – A two-stage DX-SAASHP for high
8.77 90 temperature applications
Li et al., 2013 [179] HW – – 11.4 3 − 10–34 – – 1.4–4.4 A wind-powered hybrid SAASHP
SH − 10–18 3.6–6.7 A wind-powered serial IX-SAASHP
SC 26–34 1.2–23
Lv et al., 2015 [52] HW R32/R290 (20%/80% by mass) – – – – 55 – 3.84 A solar assisted auto-cascade HP
Faria et al., 2016 [56] HW CO2 – 1.57 – 30 – – – A trans-critical DX-SAASHP
Yan et al., 2016 [39] HW R134a, R1234yf – 2 – 25 55 2.43 4.07 A vapour ejector enhanced DX-
SAASHP
Chen and Yu, 2017 [40] HW R134a – 5 – – 40–75 – 4.61–5.61 A vapour ejector enhanced DX-
SAASHP
26
Chargui and Awani, 2017 [212] SH CO2 bare 8 2 10–20 – 2.5–6 3.4–5.5
Chen and Yu, 2018 [227] HW – – 5 – – 40–70 6–6.5 3.5–6.5 An ejector enhanced DX-SAHP
Qiu et al., 2018 [210] HW – – 20 – − 25–10 50 10–14 2–2.9 A cascade serial IX-SAASHP and
two two-stage dual-source DX-
SAASHP
Rabelo et al., 2018 [218,232,246] HW CO2 bare, 1.57 0.2 25 – 1.4–1.9 3–5.5 A trans-critical DX-SAASHP
coated
Chen et al., 2019 [228] HW R134a – – 0.1 – – 1.9–2.7 2.3–5.8 An ejector enhanced DX-SAASHP
using micro-channel condenser
Fan et al., 2019 [226] HW R290/R600a – – – − 20–20 – – 2.5–7.5 An ejector enhanced DX-SAHP
Yerdash et al., 2020 [51] HW, SH R134a/R410a, R32/R290, R32/R1234yf, R32/R134a, – 6 0.3 − 30–10 40–60 – 1.8–3 A solar assisted cascade HP
R410A/R290, R410/R1234yf, R744/R290, R744/

R1234yf, R744/R134a
Kong et al., 2020 HW R134a bare 2.1 0.2 − 3–7 20–45 – 2.72–4.16 Using micro-channel condenser
[127,193,194,196,198,199]
Ma et al., 2020 [245] SH CO2, R410a – 70 3 − 6.6–12.7 35 – – A two-stage serial IX-SAASHP
Fig. 29. Effects of ambient temperature ta on COP and collector efficiency

ηcl [73].
Fig. 26. Number of papers published in journals per year for SAASHPs using
different refrigerants.
Fig. 27. Distribution of investigations in countries. Fig. 30. Effect of output water temperature Tw on COP [137].
Fig. 31. COP as a function of the temperature difference between average

water temperature in water tank to ambient air, Tw-Ta [138].
Fig. 28. Effects of solar irradiance IT on COP of the SAASHP and the collector
efficiency ηcl [73].
27
Fig. 32. COP vs ambient temperature of the SAASHPs for SH and HW.
suggested that the influence of plate thickness is apparent at smaller working conditions, enabling optimization of SAASHPs [188].
thickness and tends to be less at larger thickness. Other parameters such Increasing investigations of SAASHPs are seen in the most recent
as inclination angle of solar collectors hardly affect SPF and collector years. Great efforts have been put to develop high efficient and compact
efficiency [41,108]. components to match the working conditions of SAASHPs and hence to
Current studies on solar collectors mainly adopt the collectors improve the system performance. Particularly, eco-friendly refrigerants
designed for solar domestic HW. The specific collectors for SAASHP are such as R1234yf, R1233zd(E), R433A, R32 and R290 are used to deal
needed to be developed, which should match the development of TES with the global warming.
methods and the requirements of the SAASHP. Currently, for most sys
tems using sensible heat TES, solar collector is expected to achieve 7. Potential and barriers
higher outlet temperature to store more thermal energy in the same
storage volume. In the future, as PCM is adopted to improve TES effi The world is actively decarbonizing the energy sector through the
ciency and combined with defrosting for the smooth operation of sys development, first, of the renewable electricity and the abandonment of
tems with evaporator, e.g., hybrid SAASHP, the required collector outlet hydrocarbon combustion based systems. HPs are of the greatest interest.
temperature can be lower, just above the phase change temperature. A Combining and hybridizing solar thermal collectors with HPs can
novel control strategy proposed by Xu et al. can be used to control the significantly increase the performance of the system. The COP of HPs has
fluid flow rate and outlet temperature of solar collectors based on increased substantially over the past years due to technical improve
ments. The integration of solar thermal energy will boost the COP even
higher. According to IEA recent report on Solar Heating and Cooling
Programme, in 2019 solar thermal systems provided 479 GW thermal
energy. This is equivalent to save 43 million tons of oil and to avoid 138
million tons of CO2 emissions [189].
In Europe and the UK are trying to standardize and commercialize
SAHPs. For example, companies, such as Solamics Bunsen Air, mainly
focused on DX-SAHP water heaters. As an evaporator in such DX-SAHP,
so-called thermodynamic panel or roll-bond evaporator is used. This is
simply an unglazed absorber plate of solar thermal collectors, which is
shown in Fig. 20 as a collector/evaporator. The main shortcoming of
such evaporators is a huge heat loss due to non-glazing and isolation, but
this is also an advantage, since in the absence of solar radiation, natural
convective heat exchange with ambient air allows the evaporation
process. With a high solar radiation intensity in the collector/evapo
rator, the refrigerant turns into a gaseous phase with large volumetric
and superheating conditions, which may cause overheating of com
pressors with further mechanical failure. Therefore, finding efficient DX
dual-source [38] configurations with forced convection type fan-coil
evaporator assistance is of interest for further research. At the same
time, there is a need for adaptation to specific climate conditions, taking
into account the meteorological and consumer demand boundary con
Fig. 33. Number of journal papers vs COP. ditions. This, in turn, leads to an optimal selection of other components,
28
Fig. 34. SPF and yearly auxiliary energy as function of ice storage volume and solar collector area for building SFH 45 [90].
such as a compressor, expansion valve and condenser. The issues of finding the optimal configuration and studying the
In IX systems comprehensively discussed in section 2.2 solar thermal optimal operation of DX-SAASHP and IX-SAASHP, taking into account
collectors are connected with vapor compression heat pump cycle the use of high-tech components such as VFD compressors/pumps/fans,
through the water storage tank or intermediate heat exchanger. In this electronic expansion valve, compact brazed heat exchangers are still
case, a heat pump of the “Water-Water” type is used, the evaporator and open for specific climate conditions. At the same time, for significantly
condenser of which is a brazed plate heat exchanger. In this case, the low outside temperatures, research is also needed on the application and
heat transfer fluid flows in solar collectors without phase changing. In optimal use of the auxiliary heater. This will entail research in the field
this configuration, the processes in solar thermal part are more of control and monitoring, the development of an optimal algorithm and
controllable and predictable. The use of solar collectors and air source system controller. There is a lot of research potential in this regard, but
evaporators in the SAASHP system can be dual-source IX-SAASHP or there are some barriers associated with mass commercialization.
hybrid SAASHP. In the configurations presented in section 2.2 and 2.3, Insufficient recognition of the benefits and high investment costs are
the fan-coil evaporator is mainly used in the refrigerant circuit. Few the main barriers to widespread use of HPs. Also, in some countries with
studies are presented for an air source evaporator in a hydraulic circuit, comparatively low energy prices (natural gas, electricity, etc.), in
where heat exchange occurs without phase changing. The search for the particular, resource-rich countries, HP operating costs are also inferior
most optimal configuration for IX-SAASHP taking into account auto to conventional heat supply. In these countries, it is necessary to revise
mated components and bringing it to the level of commercialization is the tariff policy taking into account international environmental pro
the interest of the authors of the present review, in particular for UK tection standards. Defining international standards for HP efficiency,
case. optimization of system and components performance, local production
Automation implies the use of electronic components instead of and assembling of the entire system and individual details may be of
mechanical ones with an appropriate control algorithm and the use of interest to many representatives of small and medium-size enterprises,
sensors. An intelligent control algorithm for an automated system will start-ups, service engineers, manufacturers and suppliers of heating,
allow systems to work with the highest efficiency, of course, after ventilation and air conditioning equipment. There is a much progress in
determining the efficient configuration of the DX-SAASHP and IX- conventional ASHPs and GSHPs, meanwhile for SAHP systems,
SAASHP based on thermodynamic calculations and experiments. In including DX-SAASHP and IX-SAASHP, these actions are at the initial
this regard, varible frequency drive (VFD) compressors and electronic level.
expansion valves are of interest, which separate the high and low- In terms of environmental protection, in regions with a predominant
pressure sides of the vapor compression cycle. In heating, ventilation demand for heat supply, during the heating season in large cities and
and air-conditioning systems, the VFD can be used in fans, pumps and towns there is a poor air quality due to emissions from energy facilities.
compressors with variable loads. VFD compressors are of particular in This leads to a sharp increase in respiratory and allergic diseases. The
terest for DX types of the vapor compression cycle both solar and transition to clean heat provision technologies is the policy of the
ambient air since intermittent nature of solar irradiation and variability administration of many cities and towns. In this regard, the technology
of ambient air temperature. Due to the variability of the weather of heat provision of residential and commercial buildings, individual
boundary conditions, the volumetric flow rate of the vaporous refrig households using solar thermal energy and ASHP may be of interest to
erant through the DX evaporator will be different and, accordingly, the eco researchers, local executive bodies, cities administration, energy
VFD will control the volumetric efficiency of the compressor. By policy and decision makers, environmental activists and communities.
adjusting the frequency of the electrical power supplied to the Therefore, energy policy and decision makers should propose incentive
compressor motor, the VFD controls the rotational speed of the alter mechanisms in the form of subsidies, grants, etc. to accelerate the
nating current motor. The energy savings for compressors up to 35% in transition to clean heat supply technologies like the SAASHP.
heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems [190]. In low solar New constructions of the building sector are responsible for the most
irradiation or ambient air temperature, which affects evaporation tem of HP purchases. In the US, for example, the share of HP sales for new
perature the heating capacity of a heat pump decreases. Similarly, heat buildings is about 50% for new multi-family buildings and is higher than
pumps with VFD compressors allows adjusting the heating capacity in 40% for single-family dwellings [1]. The European Union, Japan and
the different ranges with appropriate frequency. Obviously, the highest China markets are expanding quickly. The HP market size is huge even
COP will be obtained for the lowest frequency. The COP value decreased for new buildings. However, to boost adoption in existing buildings
proportionally to the increase in condensing temperature. across the globe, it is necessary to work to remove the abovementioned
29
technological and economic barriers. In summary, SAASHP has flammable refrigerant A2L and therefore some countries are researching
demonstrated advantages and perspective for domestic space heating other retrofits, such as R454B. Therefore, future studies should
and hot water. To increase the uptake of SAASHPs, innovative design concentrate more on the applications of environmentally friendly re
and optimization of components and system are needed to improve the frigerants in SAASHPs responding to global restrictions.
performance of the system, to reduce the costs and to ensure its The outcome of this review is expected highly beneficial and valu
robustness of operation. able to the academia and engineers working with SAASHP systems, the
HP/solar collector manufacturers and suppliers, installers and service
8. Conclusions workers, policy makers and energy experts.
The integration of solar thermal energy and an ASHP based on Declaration of Competing Interest
vapour compression cycle is the subject of study by many researchers
and a review of the recent research and developments has been pre The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
sented in this article. Five typical and five advanced type solar SAASHPs interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
have been analyzed. Three solar thermal collector types and three the work reported in this paper.
thermal energy storage methods have been discussed. Ten defrosting
methods have been briefly discussed. Acknowledgements
The investigations so far have demonstrated that the SAASHP is a
promising technology for HW and SH in the domestic sector. SAASHPs in Funding: This work was supported by the Engineering and Physical
the domestic sector are mainly investigated by researchers from mid- Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) of the UK [EP/N020472/1]; the
latitude (20◦ − 50◦ ) countries where SH is required in winter and HW Royal Society of IEC\NSFC\170543-International Exchanges 2017 Cost
throughout the year under the medium solar irradiance and temperate Share (China); the Joint PhD Studentship of China Scholarship Council
climate conditions (-15 ◦ C − 30 ◦ C). In the future, multi-functional (CSC) and Queen Mary University of London; the National Natural Sci
SAASHPs as well as SAASHPs for high-latitude areas need to be ence Foundation (NSFC) of China [51506004]; the Project APP-SSG-17/
further investigated by developing advanced IX-SAASHP with enhanced 0280F jointly funded by Science Committee of Kazakhstan Education
solar collector and TES method. and Science Ministry and World Bank.
The COP values of most SAASHPs are ranging from 2 to 6. The dual-
source IX-SAASHP achieves COP lower than 3.5. The hybrid SAASHP, References
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Energy Conversion and Management 247 (2021) 114710

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Energy Conversion and Management

air pollutants during heat provision from hydrocarbon combustion are

Nomenclature Greek Letters:

Wtot = Wfan + Wcom + Wpump (2) demand of the building.

where t is time. 2.1. Direct expansion system

DX- Kara et al., 2008 [5] • Review on DX-SAASHP

Fig. 1. Framework of this paper.

Energy Conversion and Management 247 (2021) 114710

Fig. 2. Schematic of a DX-SAASHP (heating) (reproduced from [32]).

Fig. 5. Schematic of a parallel dual-source DX-SAASHP [34].

Fig. 6. DX-SAASHP with two-stage vapour-compression cycles (reproduced from [36]).

Solar collector is an important component for thermal energy input

Fig. 10. Adjustable vapour ejector enhanced SAASHP system [40].

Fig. 11. Serial IX-SAASHP.

Fig. 12. Serial IX-SAASHP using dual water tanks [43].

Fig. 14. Dual-source IX-SAASHP with a composite heat exchanger [50].

Fig. 16. A composite IX-SAASHP (reproduced from [15]).

average COP of a system using finned tube collector/evaporator is 2.94,

3.3. Evacuated tube solar collector

IX-SAASHPs and hybrid SAASHP for SH require large collector area

4. Thermal energy storage

TES is used to balance the energy demand and supply. It is essential

3.2. Solar collector/evaporator

Fig. 17. Hybrid SAASHP.

Fig. 18. Solar-assisted cascade ASHP [51].

Fig. 19. Trans-critical SAASHP [55].

[181] 40◦ N 0.8

Energy Conversion and Management 247 (2021) 114710

4.3. Seasonal thermal energy storage

stores solar thermal energy collected during daytime and releases it at

The seasonal TES is suitable to high latitude regions where seasonal

tions [102]. Tanks using water and gravel-water need to be buried

tional insulation cost can be partly compensated by lower excavation

is capable of achieving desired annual COP and temperature of the

efficiencies than burial tanks [103]. Combining cost effective methods

achieves an SF of 74% and a system COP of 4.4 [104]. It is worth noting

that the change in ground temperature may bring disadvantages to

temperature seasonal TES is suitable [106] and benefits for storage

stratification and thus storage efficiency [107]. Lower temperature of

the fluid entering solar collector also improves collector efficiency

air-type PCM evacuated

air-type solar collector

heat TES. Numerical simulations were conducted to examine the annual

periodic performance of a dual-source IX-SAASHP using a seasonal

Frosting is an issue influencing the reliable operation and efficiency

surface of evaporator deteriorates heat transfer and efficiency and

eventually shutdown of ASHPs [110,111]. The mechanisms of frosting

and defrosting on the surface of evaporator are reviewed in

defrosting methods including cycle reversing [115], hot gas bypass

[116], electric heater [117], dehumidification [118] and polymer

demand. The cycle reversing requires a well-designed control strategy to

balance the SH demand and effective defrosting [115]. The dehumidi­

fication requires replacing or regenerating desiccant periodically as the

moisture absorption capacity drops [118]. The polymer coating enables

Xian et al., 2020

Liu et al., 2020

formance of the coating surface.

shown in Fig. 24, a PCM storage is parallel to the condenser [121].

Fig. 21. A novel flat plate collector [67].

Esen, 2000 Trabzon, SH – flat plate 30 CaCl2 1090 kg 4.5–16.4 – – – –

Winteler et al., Wuerzburg, HW, SH – bare 10 water/ice 10 – – 1.09 – 4.25 –

balance the SH demand and effective defrosting [115]. The dehumidi

mophysical properties. R32 is a more environmentally friendly alter